Indian American Youths Win California Endowment Award

 

(L-R) Ishaan Brar, 18 & Dipti Venkatesh, 16

HI INDIA NEWS DESK

OAKLAND, CA- The California Endowment has selected its 2022 Youth Award Winners and nine outstanding young leaders and youth organizations, will be honored at a ceremony here on July 23. The recipients were selected for outstanding work with youth in the region and were selected from hundreds of applicants statewide.

Among them are Indian Americans Ishaan Brar from Bakersfield and Dipti Venkatesh from San Jose.

Venkatesh has been selected as a recipient of the Voices for Change Award. She will receive a $3,000 award. The 16-year old junior at Evergreen Valley High School has  been a volunteer with many organizations and worked to help get a ban on all flavored tobaccos products in her hometown. She founded HealthEquityPlus, a non profit run by students that advocated for health equity and educates the community about health disparities. It has expanded with members across the nation and in India.

Brar, 18 recently completed his freshman year at Duke University. While a student at Stockdale High School, he created the health community organization. It runs a mobile medical pop-up clinic that travels to homeless shelters and rehabilitation clinics to provide free medical care and has served more than two thousand people. Brar will receive a $3,000 award.

Dr. Robert K. Ross, President and CEO, The California Endowment, said his organization was delighted to honor the two Indian Americans who are ” passionate young leaders dedicated to health and racial equity whose work is making a tangible, life-changing difference for many in her community.”